I love going to church! I look forward to Sunday mornings because I enjoy my 4th grade class and every time I sit in worship I am so glad I came. Yesterday was no exception. I sat down in the worship center waiting for church to start and learned two friends children were being baptized. It made me smile and so glad I was there. As the music began I truly felt like I was the only one in the room, I was so captured by the music that it just carried me away. Then came the baptisms and I was excited. Watching two young boys stand up in front of all these adults is hard enough but listening to them tell us that they believe Jesus died for their sins and saved them...well it brought me to tears. As far as I was concerned the sermon was just completed and it was time to worship. As the music began again and we sang "In Christ Alone" my eyes filled with tears as I loved the picture those two young boys shared. Their moms were just glowing with joy knowing that their children are now their brothers in Christ.
All this brought me to a conversation I had with one of those Mom's last Friday. This kids were playing and we were talking about how so many of the churches in America are becoming Country Clubs for Christians. So many people are just doing church. Then we talked about our church and some others that we know who are striving to push their people out of doing church and instead doing life with Jesus together. I love how our Pastor does not want us doing church. He does not want us to become a country club, but instead he wants us out in the community, in our neighborhoods, in other countries and states sharing the gospel of Christ and supporting other churches as they strive to do the same.
Kathryn asked yesterday to partake in the Lord's Supper at church with me because she accepted Christ a few months ago. I told her no and after church I was pleased with my decision. We have not put Kathryn through a new Christian's class and have not really done any specific discipleship on some of these parts of church yet. When we got to the car and I asked her why she wanted to participate she said, "because that is what you do in church after you are a Christian." I asked her what it meant and was about at all and she not only did not know but was not sure why it mattered. This conversation did two things for me. One it reminded me it is time for me to get her into our children's new Christians class so that she can learn about these traditions/ordinances. It also told me that now as we are starting a new school year and I am beginning to really disciple her in her new life as a Christian I don't want to teach her to do church. I want to teach her about her relationship with our Savior. I want to teach her all the different types of worship from the Lord's Supper to tithing to singing and so much more. I want to teach her how to take this new little seed in her life and help it grow.
When we got home and she was playing in another room, she had no idea I was listening and I got her hear her sing "God I love you. Jesus I love you. God I love you. Jesus I love you." She sings like her dad and I completely off tune, but I sat and smiled to the precious heart that was praising her God. You could hear her love to Him and desire to share that with Him. Oh how I want to flourish that desire and my prayer is that the Lord would truly give me wisdom to help her grow to love him more and more. I don't want her to do church. I want her to truly have a personal relationship with our God and Savior. I want her to truly understand the words of "In Christ Alone" knowing is is a wonderful picture of the grace we are give each and every day.
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